Masters – PutterZone – Best Putter Reviewshttp://www.putterzone.com
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 15:20:52 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.9About Phil Mickelson’s Hot Putterhttp://www.putterzone.com/2012/04/phil-mickelsons-hot-putter.html
http://www.putterzone.com/2012/04/phil-mickelsons-hot-putter.html#respondSun, 08 Apr 2012 13:48:23 +0000http://www.putterzone.com/?p=967Phil Mickelson’s putter got hot at just the right time on Saturday, announcing Lefty’s intent to contend at the 2012 Masters with a 25-foot eagle putt on the 13th hole. By the 18th hole, where he sank another crucial putt, he had played a mere 30 shots on the back nine, resulting in a score of 66 that has him one-shot back heading into Sunday’s final round.

Phil Mickelson’s putter is a custom Odyssey PT82 heel-shafted blade. The length of the putter is 34 inches, and the grip is a Lamkin 3-GEN R.E.L. pistol grip in white.

There are a couple of interesting putter fitting factors built into Phil Mickelson’s putter. For starters, he recently lowered the loft of the putter from five degrees to three degrees, a tweak that helped him torch the greens to win the 2012 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

This loft tweak seems to coincide with Mickelson having slightly lessened his forward press (ie: forward shaft lean) as he addresses the ball and sets up his stroke. As explained earlier this week on Putterzone.com, calibrating your putter loft to your stroke and playing conditions is crucial to achieving a proper roll on the ball.

Another aspect of Mickelson’s putter is that it’s “toe down” in balance. As Mickelson says in his instructional DVD, he believes that the putting stroke should follow a natural arc. A toe-down putter, as opposed to a face-balanced putter, is generally acknowledged to favor an arcing stroke.

In other words, while Mickelson’s success is driven by remarkable natural ability and talent, he is also making sure his putter is perfectly fine-tuned and fit for his personal game, enabling him to maximize his putting potential.

Check out the Masters tournament’s official video highlight page to watch Mickelson’s best putts from Saturday’s round. While you are at it, note the aforementioned forward press that he puts on the shaft right before he makes his stroke.

The forward press is a controversial topic in the world of putting instruction. For some golfers, it’s an athletic move that helps smoothly trigger the stroke. It can also help keep the wrists from flipping the club head into the ball at impact. But it has to be done just right, and with precision and consistency. If the hands don’t move directly toward the target, the face of the putter can be thrown out of alignment.

But for Phil Mickelson, it was all clicking on Saturday, and now he’s riding a red-hot putter on the last stretch toward a possible fourth green jacket.

P.S. If you are interested in mastering your own putter fitting potential, check out PutterZone.com’s acclaimed putter fitting guide.

]]>http://www.putterzone.com/2012/04/phil-mickelsons-hot-putter.html/feed0Mastering Fast Greenshttp://www.putterzone.com/2012/04/mastering-fast-greens.html
http://www.putterzone.com/2012/04/mastering-fast-greens.html#respondFri, 06 Apr 2012 16:02:40 +0000http://www.putterzone.com/?p=964With rain falling earlier this week in Georgia, the greens at Augusta National are a bit more forgiving, at least for the moment.

As the Washington Post noted, “As well as the greens drain at Augusta National, the rain makes these reputed marble like surfaces play slower.”

However, the weekend forecast calls for dry, sunny weather, so there’s still plenty of time for the lightning overhead to recede and the lightning-fast greens to emerge.

But make no mistake, even at their softest, the greens at Augusta National would seem plenty fast and absolutely treacherous to the average golfer. And all the talk of Augusta National’s greens is a good excuse to delve into the topic of putter loft, and how it factors into your putter fitting equation.

Most putters come in a stock loft between two and four degrees. The idea behind putter loft is that the ball rests in a natural depression, however slight, when idle on the green. The loft of the putter lifts the ball from this depression upon impact, ideally sending it on a truer roll.

So what is the optimal putter loft? Well, it depends on the golfer and his or her stroke. However, as a rule of thumb, you need less loft if you play regularly on hard, fast greens, because the natural depression of the ball is shallower on firmer surfaces.

If your putter loft is too high for your stroke and playing conditions, the ball is launched too far and skids toward the target. Conversely, if your putter loft is too low for your stroke and playing conditions, the ball is driven into the ground and bounces toward the target. The correct loft will promote a true forward roll, minimizing skidding and bouncing for better accuracy and distance control.

So keep a close eye on the roll of your ball. If you see a pattern of bouncing or skidding, you probably need an adjustment in the loft department.

P.S. To take control of your own putter fitting so that you can achieve a better fit for better results on the green, check out Putter Perfection, PutterZone.com’s putter fitting guide.

As breathlessly reported by ABC News and countless other outlets, “Tiger Woods’ former swing coach thinks the 14-time major winner’s chances at the Masters depend on his putter.”

News flash? Not. It nearly always comes down to the putter, does it not, at Augusta National? If you don’t sink big putts there, you’re toast.

As Charles Howell III, who is returning to play the Masters for the first time in three years, said this week, “The golf course is not easy. Putting on the quick, tilting greens is not easy.”

So this time Howell is packing a new weapon in his bag: a belly putter. And he is far from alone.

Last year, when Adam Scott hung around the Masters leaderboard with a long putter, it seemed alien and even unsettling to have someone with a non-traditional putter getting anywhere near a green jacket.

Now, 12 months later, the belly putter has become commonplace on the PGA Tour, a phenomenon ignited by Keegan Bradley’s belly putter breakthrough at the PGA Championship and accelerated by a run of professionals riding their belly putters to victory.

Yet it was these same events that also prompted professional backlash against the belly putter. As a story in Bloomberg.com noted, “It wasn’t until Bradley’s victory in August that opponents began to say that the long putters violated the spirit of the game.”

The central issue is the fact that long putters are typically anchored to the stomach or sternum, which many players believe creates an unfair advantage that is inconsistent with the definition of a golf swing or stroke.

Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods are among the professionals who have stepped up to voice their opposition to long putters. Even Ernie Els, who plays with a belly putter, recently called for a ban. Arnold Palmer weighed in a few weeks ago: “The long putter really does not have a place in the game.”

It’s one thing for belly putter to find the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour, and even at a major tournament like the PGA Championship. But the Masters? That’s a different story. And it’s more likely to happen this year than any year before.

The Masters is the epitome of golf tradition, and a victory at Augusta National with a belly putter will be seen by some as a slap in the proverbial face. Others will embrace it, and say it’s officially time to put the issue to rest and accept the long putter as a way of PGA Tour life.

In other words, if a long putter is the last club standing at the 2012 Masters, the debate is going to get much louder before it gets quieter.

]]>http://www.putterzone.com/2012/04/belly-putters-challenge-tradition-masters.html/feed0Masters Memory: SeeMore FGP Putterhttp://www.putterzone.com/2012/04/masters-memory-seemore-fgp-putter.html
http://www.putterzone.com/2012/04/masters-memory-seemore-fgp-putter.html#respondTue, 03 Apr 2012 14:51:59 +0000http://www.putterzone.com/?p=944At the moment, it seems that all of the talking heads are predicting a heavyweight fight at the 2012 Masters, as if it’s inevitable that Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson will be duking it out on Sunday, or at least strongly in the hunt along with other current powerhouses such as Keegan Bradley and Hunter Mahan.

But Augusta National is known for dealing wild cards and crowning underdogs, as was the case five years ago when Zach Johnson played as steady as a rock and ultimately got fitted for a green jacket.

Johnson, however, wasn’t the only underdog to win that year. His putter, a SeeMore FGP blade, forged its own unpredictable path to major success.

The SeeMore FGP first hit the major scene in 1999, when Payne Stewart picked one up and promptly turned his putting game around. Soon thereafter, Stewart staged an epic putting performance to win the U.S. Open, turning the spotlight on the SeeMore Putter Company along the way.

Then, as now, the SeeMore putters were distinguished by their RifleScope Alignment Technology. A red dot on the rear crown of the putter is visually hidden by a blackened lower shaft when proper setup is achieved. Two parallel white lines frame the shaft to provide a further indication that the golfer is in position to make a consistent and reliable stroke.

As we’ve written before, “The original SeeMore Putter Company, however, ultimately failed to capitalize on its good fortune and proven alignment technology. By the mid 2000s, the company suffered from mismanagement and flirted with obscurity while producing some lackluster putters. In retrospect, the untimely passing of Payne Stewart in late 1999 added a tragic note to the SeeMore story…The original SeeMore FGP putters, however, remained in play on the PGA Tour—most notably in the hands of Vaughn Taylor and Zach Johnson. In other words, while the company was fizzling, its old putter was enjoying a youth-inspired resurgence.”

Around that time, in late 2006, SeeMore was acquired by putter industry veterans Jim Grundberg and Jason Pouliot, who set out to restore the SeeMore legacy with a new vision and a new line of super-premium putters. They also smartly retained Pat O’Brien as a consultant. O’Brien was a close friend of Payne Stewart and a former SeeMore tour representative who had become the putting instructor to the aforementioned Vaughn Taylor and Zach Johnson (and, later, Stewart Cink and many other professionals).

You can see where this is headed…In fact, we saw it on that first Thursday in April of 2007, noting that Johnson and his SeeMore putter were off to a hot start. At the time, PutterZone.com was just a month old, but we had already taken note of SeeMore’s strong new direction.

So when Johnson sealed the victory that Sunday with his trusty FGP putter in hand, it was as if fate had been itching to smile once again upon the SeeMore Putter Company. It brought the original FGP full circle while also shining the spotlight on the new SeeMore putters. This time, however, the SeeMore Putter Company didn’t falter in the wake of its second major success. In fact, it has grown considerably since then.

Now here we are, five years later, with our eyes on the greens of Augusta National once again. Which player, and which putter, will emerge as victorious on Sunday? Who knows…But history tells us to expect the unexpected. Just as the SeeMore Putter Company.

]]>http://www.putterzone.com/2012/04/masters-memory-seemore-fgp-putter.html/feed0Ian Poulter’s Unofficial Masters Putter Coverhttp://www.putterzone.com/2012/03/ian-poulters-unofficial-masters-putter-cover.html
http://www.putterzone.com/2012/03/ian-poulters-unofficial-masters-putter-cover.html#respondSat, 31 Mar 2012 15:02:52 +0000http://www.putterzone.com/?p=924There’s no denying that Ian Poulter knows style. Last Sunday, as we were watching the tournament at Bay Hill, who was the only guy that Mrs. PutterZone.com praised for his sartorial splendor? You know who…

So it’s no surprise that Poulter runs his own line of golf attire and accessories, and his latest creation is a putter cover honoring the Masters. Named “The First Major,” this putter cover manages to honor the Augusta experience while cleverly skirting the Augusta National and Masters trademarks.

The putter cover also plays off Poulter’s nickname as “The Postman,” with a postcard-like design and peachy Georgia imagery.

The Ian Poulter Masters putter cover costs a hefty $70, but only 750 were produced. The putter is the most personal and most-used club in the bag, so there’s nothing wrong with splurging for a cover you love.

]]>http://www.putterzone.com/2012/03/ian-poulters-unofficial-masters-putter-cover.html/feed0Get The Masters App 2012http://www.putterzone.com/2012/03/masters-app-2012.html
http://www.putterzone.com/2012/03/masters-app-2012.html#respondSat, 31 Mar 2012 14:34:57 +0000http://www.putterzone.com/?p=919For many folks, Christmas is “the most wonderful time of the year.” But for golf fanatics, it’s Masters week. And with Tiger Woods rising, Rory McIlroy roaring and a host of other exciting contenders, this Masters week could be one for the ages.

On that note, we are excited about the return of a seasonal favorite this weekend: the official Masters app for the iPad, iPhone and, now, Android. If you have a smartphone, this is nothing less than a must-have app. Best of all, it’s free.

Like it’s predecessors, the 2012 Masters app is chock full of features, and it’s only going to get better as the tournament begins. For now, you can view video recaps of last year’s Masters, read news updates about this year’s participants, and enjoy hole-by-hole flyovers that showcase the epic beauty of Augusta National. It also includes photos and background information on Augusta National landmarks, such as Butler Cabin and Hogan Bridge.

Once the tournament begins, you’ll be able to track the action on the included leaderboard, as well as watch live footage of select holes. Simply put, for the Masters fan, there’s no better way to geek out on the course, the tournament and the action.

We’ll be bringing you putter news from the Masters all week, so stay tuned at PutterZone.com.